The fact that an album as good-natured, human and sublime as SELF PORTRAIT couldn't bring a smile to these hippies and critics proves there was something missing in them...and NOT in Dylan. This IS a self portrait of the artist at the time: Showing all his different sides and moods. There are lush orchestrated experiments in minimalism ("All The Tired Horses", "Wigwam"), NASHVILLE SKYLINE style country tunes ("I Forget More Than You'll Ever Know", "Take Me As I Am"), campfire folk songs ("Alberta"), hillbilly knee-slappers ("Little Sadie"), boogie-woogie jams ("Woogie Boogie"), sweet soulful ballads ("Let It Be Me", "Belle Isle"), gospel strutting R&B ("Gotta Travel On"), and live cuts that aren't "lifeless" by any means ("The Mighty Quinn (Quinn The Eskimo)").

In short, it's a musical landscape in the shape of America. This was Dylan just being a musician in the purest sense. But I guess all his so-called fans and the music press didn't really like the SOUND of Dylan or his music. They simply liked the IDEA of his music. When they were left to hear Dylan croon "Blue Moon" they couldn't process that. It didn't compute. Why would Dylan just sing a nice little song he liked? Because he was a SINGER and he liked the song. And by this point, Dylan was a very expressive vocalist.

They didn't call them covers when Sinatra or Elvis did them. Bob Dylan was an entertainer. This was what he was saying with SELF PORTRAIT. He was a song & dance man. A traveling hobo with a guitar and a tall tale. A man that looked up at the big blue sky and took a breath of air. A balladeer, a vanguard, a clown...a brilliant genius child. It's as Dylan as Dylan gets. I'll take "Wigwam" over any dated protest song any day of the week.